Solution to Kivan, his Spear, and his Pips in Halberd for BG:EE?

[jastey]

Kivan in BG:EE no longer has pips in spear but comes with two pips for halberds. For legacy reasons his quest gives him a spear as a reward for EE, also.

There is two obvious solutions if we want to keep the original content:

-change Kivan's pips in BG:EE and EET from halberd to spear.

-change the item to use halberd proficiency instead. (kudos to jmerry for the idea.)

I'm fine with either - or both. I would make it an optional component and would be happy if someone provides the required tp2 code / changed item.

[Caedwyr]

While the spear is cool, there are a lot of decent halberds available early on in BG1, so that might be the better fit.

[Isewein]

A spear seems much more fitting for him, in terms of flavour. Elves of Shilmista are not known to fight with halberds, and it is an unwieldy weapon for a hunter anyway. It's a question of game design whether balance should be prioritised over coherence. Personally, I think that the logic of "there's a lot of halberds in BG:EE, so Kivan should be proficient with them" which seems to have led to the EE change, or even alternatively "Kivan's halberd miraculously looks like a spear" is a bit circular.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Isewein

[Caedwyr]

Yeah, and I agree that spears are much more thematically appropriate for his character.  I'd probably actually choose the "give him Spear proficiency" option if it was available.

[a.greene]

I agree, replacing Kivan's proficiency with halberds for proficiency with spears would be most appropriate in my opinion.

[Anton]

I'd go with giving him spears. Spears are not a proficiency a Charname would ever take (because they are not as strong as the other stuff) so it's nice that there is at least someone who is using them.

[jastey]

I'll integrate it if someone provides the needed code (as this is not my field of expertise.)

[Angel]

1 hour ago, jastey said:

I'll integrate it if someone provides the needed code (as this is not my field of expertise.)

Mm, this pretty much is my expertise.    I'll see what I can do, it shouldn't be too hard.

[jastey]

@Angel thanks in advance! (I assume you are aware that this has only to be compatible with EE.)

[Angel]

45 minutes ago, jastey said:

@Angel thanks in advance! (I assume you are aware that this has only to be compatible with EE.)

Not a problem.  I can write it in such a way that it will work with anything except vanilla BG1 (where this isn't an issue anyway).

[Isewein]

Isn't this all the code needed?

[Angel]

7 minutes ago, Isewein said:

Isn't this all the code needed?

Technically, yes.  But you'll also want to change his starting weapon, and do a few other minor tweaks to make it all work smoothly.

Pull request made.  https://github.com/Gibberlings3/BG1NPC/pull/79

[jastey]

@Angel awesome! Thank you, I'll take a look at it when I'll have the time.

[Angel]

6 minutes ago, jastey said:

@Angel awesome! Thank you, I'll take a look at it when I'll have the time.

No rush.  This was pretty quick and dirty, if you want me to refine it a bit more let me know.  Currently the second option doesn't change the spear's description and turns it into something of a spear/halberd hybrid.  I can make it change it into a full halberd with a little more effort.

[ktchong]

Quote

The BG1 NPC Project: Kivan's Proficiency

This component will give a choice to alter Kivan's weapon proficiency pips to either halberds or spears. This is interesting insofar, as the quest item Kivan receives from Thalatyr is a spear, whereas he comes with pips in halberd in BG:EE.

Option one: Kivan uses spears. This option will give Kivan 2 pips in spears, and also replace two halberds in teh game with spears (one in the cave in Dryad Falls, another in the Cloakwood Mines level 3.

Option two: Kivan uses halberds. This option will give Kivan 2 pips in halberds.

 

There should be a third option.

Option three: Kivan uses spears.  He has 2 pips in spears.  However, this option does NOT replace the two halberds in the game with spears, i.e., in the Dryad Falls cave and Cloakwood Mines level 3(?). 

i.e., in the case of another NPC has pips in halberds.   So Kivan uses spears, and the other NPC can use the halberd from Dryad Falls or Cloakwood Mines.

(The one in Cloakwood Mines level 3 is already a Spear +1, no?)

Edited March 13 by ktchong